A celebration of Black history

Our schools and academies embrace learning about Black history throughout the year, but October always presents more opportunity for celebration as part of Black History Month.

At Elmridge Primary School, Year 4 students learned about the inspirational Lilian Bader, one of the first Black women to join the British armed forces, students were amazed by her courage and determination. While Year 6 worked on biographies using ‘Little Leaders – Bold Women in Black History’ as stimulus for their writing – with Wilma Rudolph, the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field at a single Olympics, proving to be a particular favourite.

We were treated to a daily Twitter thread from the Cedar Mount Academy Humanities Department showcasing all of the amazing opportunities for the school community to celebrate Black history. You can view the thread here:

https://mobile.twitter.com/CMAHumanities/status/1443839191717195779

There were a number of special visitors to Cedar Mount, from university lecturers and authors to former students and journalists. The breadth of subjects covered was immense and many of these are already absorbed in the school’s curriculum, including: the origins of the Black Lives Matter movement, the work of Black British politicians and Ancient Greece and Black representation in mythology.

Dr Andrew Fearnley from the University of Manchester spoke to Y10 History about the US Civil Rights Movement from a global perspective and Chantal Victoria, a children’s book author, presented to Y10 Geography on ‘Water Security, Peace and Fragility in Liberia: An African Ecofeminist Approach”. Guardian journalist Maya Wolfe-Robinson delivered a session on Black representation in journalism and the importance of overcoming stereotypes from the media, and Dr Remi Joseph-Salisbury taught about natural hair and the need for hair discrimination laws.

Staff displayed their black heroes on classroom and office doors, the catering team planned themed lunches and ‘Traditional Dress Day’ brought a whole range of wonderful vibrant colours and patterns to the school. Dance classes also proved to be extremely popular with students taking part in Afrobeats sessions.